


Cuddles

by Themaidsdiaries



Category: Chernobyl (TV 2019)
Genre: Cuddling, F/M, Fluff without Plot, Unbeta'ed, fluffly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 13:45:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19477126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Themaidsdiaries/pseuds/Themaidsdiaries
Summary: It's late, they are tired and lonely.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language, forgive my typos and grammar mistakes (or bad word choices).

Finding Khomyuk sleeping over the paperwork is not a surprise. It goes past 1:00 AM and after a hard work day the last thing they needed was to study hypotheses and make calculations until dawn. 

Shcherbina had gone to bed hours ago, but they continued their efforts without noticing the time passing. Well, that's until Legasov excused himself to go to the bathroom and came across her sleeping when he got back.

Her head was resting on her hand, her hair lying on the table, her face relaxed and her breathing deep. 

Without making a noise he gathered the work, her things on the table and put his belongings in his pocket. The good part of feeling exhausted was the ease with which sleep overcomes them most nights.

"Hey ..." Valery says in a low tone of voice touching her shoulder. "Wake up, comrade." 

No reply. 

His hand presses her shoulder lightly and shakes her a bit. "Khomyuk, wake up."

"Hmmm." 

A grunt. She does not open her eyes and he feels a smile on his own lips envying her ability to simply sleep almost anywhere, however uncomfortable. 

"Come on, you can’t sleep here. Time to go the bed."

"I'm fine here." She mumbles, turning her face to the other side. 

"Your neck will kill you in the morning. Come on, I'll help you."

Valery carries her purse and coat in one arm as he guides her down the hall to the hotel’s elevator. Her steps are slow and she blinks her eyes slowly. For a moment she looks like a sleepy little girl and he is tempted to take her in his arms and carry her to bed, but instead, as they enter the elevator and she swings gently, he pulls her close.

"Come here."

She steps forward and let her head fall on his chest, wrapping her arms around Legasov as he hugs her with one arm. Her hands touch is back under his jacket and he feels the scent of her hair as he tilts his face toward her. 

"This is good," she mumbled, burying her face in the crack in his neck.

"Much better than the table hm?" He jokes.

"Uhm," Ulana agrees, her breath caressing his neck and her hair is a little tickling against his noise, but he likes it. "You're so warm, Valery." 

"We are almost there." Valery closes his eyes for a moment, cuddling her and enjoying the sense of comfort that the embrace gives him.

"Sleep with me." She asks in low husky tone.

They are friends, colleagues by profession, working together in an unimaginable situation. It is inappropriate to sleep together, it could create an embarrassing situation in the future, but it does not matter, nothing matters. They are both tired and lonely.

"You want to cuddle?" He asks next to her ear, breathing in her scent, feeling her hair stroking his face. The feeling of having her in his arms does not seem inappropriate, on the contrary, nothing seems more right, more adequate or more perfect.

"Hmm." She agrees with a purr and a clumsy nod against his neck. In his lips a broad smile.

Ten minutes is the time he takes to get ready and he gives her to change. Then he crosses the corridor after a brief shower, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and thanking heaven for their rooms stand in front of each other.

He finds her already under the covers, on one side of the bed, snoring low and peacefully sleeping. The bedside light is on for him, and he can see her clothes dropped on a chair, messy, to be taken care of the next morning.

Valery lies in the empty space, covers himself and turn off the light. There is no strangeness in the situation, but he is not surprised at this, especially as she approaches him and lays her head on his shoulder, not even when her hand finds the hem of his T-shirt and slides over his chest to rest next to his heart.

"You're smelling so good." She mumbles and he can feel her smile against his skin and give a low chuckle.

His fingers get lost in her hair, caressing them slowly as the other hand holds hers over his chest. It is comfortable, it is pleasant, it is warm and terribly cozy. He knows he could sleep like this with her in his arms every night for the rest of his life, feeling her body against his, their legs tangled and holding hands.

"Night, Ulana," Valery murmurs.

She does not respond and it doesn't take long for him to sleep to. In the morning, well ... Who knows what the morning will bring?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More cuddling because there's not enough of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English is not my first language, forgive my typos and grammar mistakes (or bad word choices).

The first thing Ulana does when she wakes up is to stretch, stretch her legs and arms, then she opens her eyes. However, that morning all she wants is to be quiet in his embrace. At some point they turned around and she ended up becoming the small spoon, wrapped in a warm and comfortable bear hug.

The room is clear, a golden clarity filtered through the curtains that allows her to see his arms around her. The clock strikes 6:30 AM, she can stay there for another fifteen minutes. She can’t remember when she woke up like that for the last time, snuggling against someone, feeling a warm breath against her neck, a soft, inviting body against hers.

She feels that she could stay there for all eternity, forget the world and just exist within that moment with him.

A sigh escapes her and she closes her eyes as she slides her hand up Valery's right arm languidly. Ulana had seen his arms before while they worked, but she had no idea how comfortable they would be around her before. She lies to herself. And she is not surprised that the movement is what it takes to him wake up.

Valery moves against her, burying his face in her neck and pressing her against him. 

"Morning," she says softly and shrinks her shoulders as a shiver runs down her back.

"Good morning." His lips brush against her skin as he speaks, and Ulana tilts her head even more toward the pillow without worrying how easily they break barriers and let themselves fall into that intimate situation. 

Valery takes the new angle to her neck and when she reaches up to stroke his hair he kisses her skin gently.

"This is good," she whispers, running her fingers through his hair. "But we have to get up." 

It is extremely natural and easy to surrender to him as if they were old lovers, as if none of those little touches were new between them.

Ulana gently opens space between them and turns to face him. Valery smiles with narrow eyes, and she snuggles into him again. He brushes her hair back from her face and kisses her forehead. Their legs are entwined and she, feeling encouraged by the intimacy, and unable to contain her curiosity, lets the top of her thigh touch him more than she should. It's there.

Legasov sighs against her forehead, but does not move.

"It's a pity, but we really need to get ready. Comrade Shcherbina will be knocking at your door soon." She wonders how Boris would react to find them there and it amuses her. Smiling, Ulana runs her fingers up and down his shoulder and arm with his fingers, drawing slow lines in a fluid movement.

"I know." He mutters.

They look into each other's eyes and Ulana feels an almost uncontrollable desire to dive into his eyes and let herself drown on it. At that moment the two are sure that sooner or later they will surrender to the inevitable and smile cheekily at each other aware of their certainty. This is happening, they are happening, no matter what.

Valery leans toward her. Their noses touch, their lips apart for mere inches as they share the same breath. Her eyes focus on his lips. They seem to be so soft and she wants to kiss them, but she doesn’t, there’s not enough time for that at that moment. She stroke his face with her hand and he leaned towards her touch. The change of angle gets their lips closer.

Ulana's heart beats faster and she feels the anticipation growing inside her. His hands grasp the lower part of her back and when she closes her eyes he gives a quick soft peck on her lips.

It is so fast that she can’t register the sensation and she is about to kiss him again when the alarm goes off. They both look at each other smiling and finally let go.

Ulana squeezes the alarm button and sits on the bed, pulling her hair away from her face as she looks down at him, a smile on his lips and his hands folded behind his head. 

“We can cuddle again tonight, I mean, if you are up to it.” Her words have a soft but not imperceptible suggestion.

"I'm definitely up to it." Valery responds and his smile becomes even more audacious. 

"Then go get ready." 

She chuckles before finally getting up and going to the bathroom to get ready for another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any feedback is appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback is appreciated.  
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
